Founder and Program Director, IRL Social Skills

MARA McLOUGHLIN, BS, MS

Communication Specialist

Mara (she/her) is the Founder and Program Director of IRL Social Skills. Working for 15+ years as a speech language pathologist specializing in helping nonspeaking autistic humans gain a functional way to express themselves, she recognized that students and families of those who could speak — and were perhaps doing well academically — needed much more social skills support. In March 2021 — during the height of a global pandemic and recession — she assembled an interdisciplinary team to serve families of socially struggling teens and young adults from across the United States. She served on the Oregon Autism Commission member appointed by former governor Kate Brown, and has been a student/teacher of yoga & mindfulness for 30+ years.

Check out these videos from our founder and a former participant